The Lost City
by Bard the Kiwi
Summary: The Doctor stumbles across Professor Hiram Bingham, on the verge of discovering a lost Incan city in 1911. But the Daleks are also searching for something in Peru, and it soon becomes clear that the Daleks will ultimately alter history unless the Doctor can stop them...


"Come along, come along, we have to keep going, I want get there before lunch. Pablito, are we going the right way?"

Professor Bingham hacked away at the fauna in front of him with the large blade he had borrowed from one of the locals. Behind him, Pablito Alvarez walked with tired feet. Ever since the white men had arrived and convinced his mother to assist them with their expeditions, he had regretted it. His feet were sore and despite knowing the region well he was growing tired of the frustrations expressed by the group's leader; why rush something when the city isn't going anywhere?

"Yes, this way" Pablito said, pointing further up the undergrowth. Hiram stopped and wiped his brow, standing back to view the mountainous terrain surrounding them. The stunning peaks were just visible in the haze of the humidity.

"You're a prize, my boy: said Hiram, smiling. "When Mr Arteaga introduced me I knew you were something special."

Pablito just smiled and nodded. Behind them, five others clambered up the hill with them. Two local villagers and three archeologists from a rival party had got wind of Hiram's efforts and tagged along. Now, Hiram feared, his search for finding the lost city might be stolen from under him.

Hiram noted the large tundra in front of him and took a large swing with his machete.

'Oi! Watch it!"

Hiram leap back almost immediately. In the rear group, one of the men drew his firearm.

A man wearing a brown suit with white shoes emerged from the bushes, smiling although noting the machete with concern.

"Best watch it with that thing, might put somebody's eye out" said the man.

"Who sir, are you?" demanded Hiram. Behind him, the rest of the party had now caught up and surrounded the new arrival, two pistols now pointing at the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor, sorry, didn't mean to disturb, just thought I'd get some mountain air while my ship recharges. Pesky things those time vortexes, never know when a surge is gonna knock you sideways."

"Hiram, I know not of these words that this man speaks but we should continue without him" urged one of the armed men.

"Nathaniel, might I remind you that you yourself pushed your own interests onto my expedition. I will allow this man to do the same. Now... Doctor was it? Why are you here? I wasn't aware of a British expedition in this area."

"Oh no no no no, not me, no, bit tired of exploring. No, hiked this whole region a couple of times anyway."

"I don't understand you Doctor" said Hiram, scratching his head. "This area has never been seen by men of the west."

"Oh? Well I must be getting confused. I always do when I'm in... um, where are we?"

Hiram rolled his eyed, but amused himself. "You are in Urubamba Valley in Peru, Doctor, roughly fifty miles from the town of Cusco. We are here searching for the lost cities of the Incas."

The Doctor suddenly looked at his watch. "Wait, what day is it? And year?"

"July 24th, in the year nineteen hundred and eleven. Surely you would know this" asked a quizzical Hiram.

"Oh you know, travel does make you lose track every now and then. So, July 24th... big day for you my boy."

Hiram just looked at the visitor totally confused. The man known as Nathaniel stepped forward.

"Enough of this foolishness. We should keep moving" he said.

"Oh now wait a minute..." began the Doctor, "...I quite agree. We should keep moving. I actually wanted to be here when- wait, what are you lot doing here?"

"Same thing as you, apparently" said Nathaniel.

"No but, you shouldn't be here, Professor Bingham should find it by himself-"

"Oh really?" said Nathaniel, pointing his gun right at the Doctor's head. "I sincerely doubt he 'should'. We're all gonna find this mysterious city together."

The Doctor reluctantly agreed and followed Hiram and the others into the jungle.

...

Elsewhere in the same valley, two men were slowly making their way towards the same area. On their backs they carried large heavy sacks, empty but soon – the men hoped – to be full of Incan treasures.

"Hurry up Vasquez" said the man in front, stroking his thick black beard. "That Professor might be there soon. Gotta make sure we beat him."

The man known as Vasquez was lumbering behind him on the muddy and overgrown path. Slightly overweight, the man was already reaching into his jacket pocket to retrieve his pipe for what he believed was a well-deserved smoke.

"Oh come on" said the first man, noticing his companion's actions. "That will only slow us down."

"You know how I handle this hill terrain, Jonas" said Vasquez, pulling out a box of matches and settling down on a large rock. Jonas accepted his friend wasn't going to move so returned and sat opposite him on an equally big boulder.

"Think we'll find anything of value?" asked Vasquez, fumbling for his stash of tobacco.

"Course we will" said Jonas, wiping his forehead with his jacket sleeve. "Incas paved the way to the heavens with gold – the higher you go, the richer you get."

"Yeah well we didn't find anything at the last site." Vasquez swore under his breath as some of the tobacco shards drifted off in the wind.

"It's those archeologists. They survey, they catalogue, then their true face is revealed and they plunder."

"Isn't that what we're doing?" said Vasquez, striking a match.

"Yes but we're doing it to better ourselves. What's the point in keeping all that gold in a museum if it's can't be exchanged for hard currency? You know, once when I was in Talca I had the most amazing conversation with a man about- Vasquez what is it?"

Vasquez had let the match burn right down in his fingers without even lighting his pipe. He dropped it just a second before it burnt him but didn't take his eyes off something behind Jonas. Jonas slowly turned to see what he was looking at.

A small domed object the size of a man was partially visible in the undergrowth about twenty metres from their position off the track. Jonas immediately jumped off the boulder and rubbed his hands together absently.

"I dare say we will be eating well in Cusco tonight, Vasquez. Come on."

The two men walked through the jungle, hacking away at the bushes and trees between them and their bounty. After a few minutes of clearing a path that took considerably longer than expected, Jonas emerged to stand in front of the mysterious object.

"Is it Incan?" said Vasquez, staring at the golden statue in front of him.

"That is an extremely foolish statement my friend. Who else would have such an amazing gold statue in this region?"

Vasquez examined the two metallic shafts protruding from its midriff. "This doesn't look anything like any Incan statue I've ever seen before?"

"Who cares" said Jonas, staring straight at the short appendage protruding from the dome. "Think of all the ingots we can get when we melt this down."

Vasquez smiled. "I know what you mean... I got dibs on one of these domes-"

Vasquez reached out and touched a dome right below the shaft that looked like a plunger. Instantly his hand became stuck to the statue, and all the colour began to drain from his body.

"Vasquez! What-"

The dome of the statue began to move, rotating as if to aim it's upper shaft at Vasquez.

"...transfer of potential energy... recharge cycle commencing... full energy consumption required..."

Jonas almost fell back as the statue spoke. He was amazed as the lights lit up when the statue was speaking, but was unprepared for what was to happen next.

The plunger shaft of the statue shot out and tore through the jacket and shirt Vasquez was wearing, melting the fabric and exposing bare skin. When the plunger connected with the poor man's chest it began drawing all life from him. Bones became visible from beneath his flesh and his skin was turning a shade of grey Jonas would only associate with the dead.

After a few seconds, Vasquez fell back to the ground, completely desiccated and still with the expression of absolute horror on his face. Jonas watched as the golden statue slowly turned it's upper shaft towards him. He didn't wait for any further reactions. He dived through the undergrowth as fast as he could, smacking through leaves and thick branches as he went. His face was all cut from the sharp edges of bark and foliage he was trying to avoid.

Back near the path, the statue turned its full body to survey the area.

"Dalek Thay to Dalek Sec. Do you respond?" it said.

After a few seconds, the communication handshake took place and Dalek Thay was connected again with his brethren.

"Dalek Thay, report to grid 456.8. Do not delay."

"I obey" he said. "_Elevate_."

Dalek Thay detected he was still on minimum power, and using the elevation unit was probably not a good idea. However, once he cleared the treetops he felt the warmth of the near-midday sun on his outer casing, and reconfigured the globes on his lower shell to begin drawing in solar energy. Adjusting his tracking systems he turned to the specified destination and began to move off, leaving behind the charred remains of Vasquez, and the bewildered Jonas, who after a few seconds of watching his once-desired golden statue fly away in front of him, turned and ran into the bushes.

...

"Rosaspata."

"Ah yes" said the Doctor. "The Palace of Vitcos. Last refuge of the Incas before the Spanish ended all resistence."

The group had stopped for a rest on a ledge overlooking the Urubamba Valley. The heat was causing everyone to perspire, and almost all the water rations had been consumed. The Doctor had learned of Professor Bingham's trip with the young boy, Pablito, but of the three intruders to the party – Nathaniel Walker, Barnaby Brown and James McKilloch – along with their two native guides.

"Exactly" smiled Professor Bingham, happy to meet a fellow Incatologist. "Although I always need to point out that disease is what caused the fall of the remaining Inca."

"Terrible end, still, that's life. What Pizarro started with the Incas, Christopher Columbus started with the Native Americans, Arthur Philip started with Indiginous Australians. The cycle repeats."

Hiram looked at the man for a time. Never before had he encountered an individual with such a vast outlook on life, and he had encountered many individuals in his time-

"Look!"

The Doctor looked up and saw Nathaniel pointing in the sky to the east, near the ridge of the closest mountain.

The Doctor followed his arm to see something shiny disappear behind the mountain.

"What was it?" asked Hiram.

"I don't know" said Nathanial. "I've never seen an aircraft behave like that before. It looked too small to be a plane."

"Doctor, did you see it?"

"Not really" he said, not wishing to think what he thought it might have been. "I say we carry on as we are."

"Not bloody likely" said James, already pulling on his pack and starting to walk up the path.

"If it's crashed we should help." Nathaniel shoved his pistol into the Doctor's side, indicating up the path. "Besides, they might need a Doctor."

...

Once they cleared the ridge they saw they were looking into a neighbouring valley, but there was no sign of a crash.

"See" said the Doctor. "Thought there wasn't any point to doing this. Lets head back."

As he turned to leave, the sound of weapons fire not normally heard from this time period could be heard.

"What is that?" said Hiram, trying to see over the tall trees on this side of the valley. "Whatever it is it's coming from the floor of the valley, maybe past that next bend in the hillside. What do you think Doctor?"

But the Doctor already knew what the sound was. A sound he'd heard all his life. A sound that a usually followed by nothing but death.

"We should leave. Now."

He turned to leave but Nathaniel pulled his pistol on him. The Doctor simply slapped it out of his hand and into a bush.

"What's down in that valley can't be killed by pistols. It can't be killed by any weapon created thus far in 1911. Best thing for all of us is to leave immediately."

"Why Doctor?" asked Hiram.

"Because a great evil is down there, and unless we get to safety then all of us are-"

A loud scream caught their attention from further down the path. Pablito came running up the path, crying.

"Pablito, what is it?" asked Hiram, hugging the small boy.

"Adelmo fell over, that way" the boy said, pointing back down the path.

The Doctor sprang forward. "Hiram, stay here, guard Pablito. Everyone else come with me. Bring your pistols we may need them."

Nathaniel was retrieving his from under the bush. "Why? I thought you said they're useless against the 'evil'?"

"They are, but you never know, there's always a first time."

...

At the base of the canyon, two Daleks were blasting away at the side of the mountain, overlooked by a third. Dalek Sec turned as Dalek Thay landed beside him.

"Report" Sec demanded.

"All systems now returning to normal. Temporal shift caused minor fluctuations in my power grid, forcing immediate shut down."

"Assist Dalek Jast and Caan. We must recover the Heart of Skaro. Stay alert, humans have been detected and engaged in the area"

"I obey" said Dalek Thay, moving to join his brothers as he began targeting the mountainside. Already much of the hillside had been torn away, exposing boulders and sediment that had not had contact with the air for thousands of years.

...

The Doctor stood over the body of Adelmo, lying face down, his upper torso buried in dense bush off the track. _Grateful_ the Doctor thought to himself, _spare the group the horror of the likely expression on Adelmo's face_.

"How is he?" asked Nathanial.

"Definitely dead" said the Doctor, standing to observe the others. The remaining local guide stared at his friend, shaking. The Doctor stepped up to him.

"What did you see? Please" he asked.

The guide looked to the Doctor and back to his fallen comrade. "El Diablo" he said.

"That's crazy" said Nathanial, "C'mon, we're wasting our time here. He probably drank something he shouldn't have-"

"Drank!" yelled the Doctor, spinning on Nathanial as he tried to head back up the path. "I've seen wounds like this before. If you want the cause of death, I highly doubt in-gestation of harmful fluids is your answer."

"What wounds?" said James, standing over the body. "I don't see a mark on him."

"Not on the outside, no. But trust me, his insides have taken a hell of a-"

A loud rumbling noise filled the air as everyone held onto the trees out of instinct. In the distance, a flock of birds took off, screeching as they went.

"Avalanche!" yelled Barnaby.

"Out here, I highly doubt it" said James.

The Doctor knew leading the men towards the danger would be their death sentence, but he knew he had to know what his enemy was up to, and to make sure history wasn't altered.

"It came from this way" said the Doctor, pointing up the path. "Come on!"

...

In the relatively safe cover of the undergrowth, the Doctor and the others watched in awe at the sight before them. Far below, the four Daleks continued to dig away at the hillside.

"What are they? I have not seen such devices before" said James.

"I've seen something similar, although not to that scale" said Barnaby. "A project developed by the British Army for a possible skirmish against various factions in Europe. We called it a Motor-War Car."

"Skirmish…" said the Doctor, knowing full well in three years time the factions of Europe would collapse upon each other in the first World War, and that the Motor-War Car would become more commonly known as a tank.

Nathanial had been observing the Doctor, peeling his attention away from the Daleks below. "You don't see as amazed as the rest of us" he said.

"I've seen them before. They kill. It's all they ever do. Shoot first and ask questions later. They've killed millions, and each time I-"

"Oh come on Doctor, killed _millions_?" said Nathanial. "Don't ya think the world would've noticed if millions of people suddenly died? We'd have heard about them."

"The world has its mysteries; the Marie Celeste, the Roanoke Colony, the Hamilton disappearance, you think just because millions died you would notice? Humans have an amazing capacity for missing the obvious, I doubt this would make any difference. Throughout history the Daleks have killed without hesitation, but never without cause. Why they're blasting away at this mountain is beyond me. And naturally, that worries me"

Barnaby moved closer to the front of the pack, putting his arms on a rotten tree branch in front of him. "I think they're amazing. I don't think I'll ever-"

The tree Barnaby had his leaned all his weight on collapsed, forcing him to tumble into the dense bush and fall into the clearing.

Dalek Jast turned and saw him.

"Barnaby-" began Nathanial, but the Doctor grabbed his mouth.

"No! It's too late!"

Barnaby got up and tried to run. Jast's middle section rotated as he stopped firing, targeted the poor human and fired.

The others watched as Barnaby's lifeless body was hurtled through the air and slammed into a tree trunk.

No one needed to say anything. Everyone was already part way back up the hill by the time Barnaby's body had come to rest.

Dalek Sec turned, alerted by the attack. "Dalek Jast, you will accompany me to assist in the extermination of the humans. Dalek Caan, remain with Thay to uncover the Heart of Skaro."

"We obey" the remaining members of the Cult said, and they split into pairs.

"Keep going! GO!" yelled the Doctor, trying to get everyone up the hill. The native guide stumbled and fell back down the slippery slope, the Doctor momentarily contemplating going after him, but then heard the whine of a Dalek elevation unit, and turned away.

At the crest of the hill, James and Nathaniel turned and saw the Doctor arriving at the top, removing a branch stuck in his coat.

"What happened to Cedro?"

A blast of Dalek laser fire came from the bottom of the hill, followed by a change in pitch of the Dalek engine.

"Keep moving, we have to get to Hiram."

The three men ran through the trees as quietly as they could. Overhead, the shape of two Daleks approaching above them could just be seen.

"How the hell can we escape them?" yelled James?

"I have a few ideas" said the Doctor. "Besides, we need to make sure Hiram finds the lost city before nightfall, otherwise history will be changed."

"What are you talking about?" quizzed James, looking over his shoulder every few seconds.

"You know of its location?" asked Nathaniel.

"Yes, well sort of, I used to. Look, just trust me. The history books are written as they are, although I must say they don't say anything about you- oh dear." The Doctor stopped, glancing at the two men.

"What?" said Nathaniel.

"Nothing" said the Doctor, hiding his true feelings and once again regretting the knowledge of future events. "Absolutely nothing."

"Doctor, look!"

The doctor followed James's arm to the sky, where he saw the two Daleks had stopped pursuing.

"…I repeat, the Heart of Skaro has been exposed."

"Good" said Dalek Sec. "We will return to your location."

Dalek Sec and Dalek Jast turned and sped off back to the others.

"What's the Heart of Skaro" asked James.

The Doctor watched the black and gold Daleks disappear from sight. "Something I haven't seen in a thousand years."

...

Hiram and Pablito waited patiently as the three men returned to them. James fell on the ground, out of breath. Nathaniel leaned against a tree, keeping his eye on the Doctor and on Hiram.

"Where are the others?" demanded Hiram, regretting the answer he might get. The Doctor shook his head, to which Hiram glanced back at the hill they had just emerged from.

"This expedition is damned. We must turn back-"

"No!" yelled the Doctor, standing up. Aware he now had the attention of the group, the Doctor attempted to recompose himself.

"Well, what I meant was we shouldn't make decisions to hasty, I mean in light of this… event."

"Event? Event! Doctor, men are dead, good men. We can't stay here, we must return to the village, bring more men and weapons to defeat whatever killed-"

"Not likely" said Nathaniel, putting his pistol away. "These things look like a simple bullet won't stop them. Am I right?"

The Doctor realized he was being spoken to, and nodded. He looked at Hiram, then at Pablito, who was terrified. He thought for a minute, as the others gathered their thoughts.

"I have a better idea" the Doctor said, trying to put things back on track. "Hiram, up that way, over that ridge, is a small hut with a family in it, they would have food and you might be able to stay there the night. Nathaniel, James and I will try and take care of these monsters."

"We will?" asked James.

"You want revenge don't you?" asked Nathaniel, cleaning his rifle.

...

Dalek Sec landed and approached mountainside that was scarred viciously by Dalek weapons fire. Dalek Caan craned his eyestalk towards the newly created cliff face, the others followed.

The massive shape of a half-buried Dalek saucer emerged from the side. Parts of it were twisted beyond recognition due to the millennia of being trapped in the hillside.

"Dalek Jast, you will enter the saucer and recover the Heart of Skaro."

"I obey" he said, and moved forward. As he got within 10 metros of the saucer however, an explosion tore off a hatch on the lower side of the saucer and a silver Dalek emerged, elevating with just enough power to land in front of Dalek Jast with an unceremonious thump.

"Halt" it yelled, it's voice reverberating due to damage. "Entry to thissss vessel is res- restricted."

"We are the Cult of Skaro" announced Dalek Sec, trundling forward. "We serve the Emperor of the Daleks. As do you-"

"I repeat… this area is-is restricted. You will nnnnnot enter" yelled the Dalek, and targeted his weapons on Dalek Jast. Dalek Sec communicated silently with his team, and suddenly Daleks' Thay and Caan opened fire on the Sentry Dalek.

The weapons fire had no effect. The damaged Dalek became agitated in it's casing, and began to try and target Dalek Jast, who still had not backed down. The Sentry Dalek fired, but the beam missed Jast by two feet.

"We must withdraw" yelled Dalek Sec, and the four Daleks elevated to safety. The Sentry Dalek attempted to visually follow them but the servos in his dome continued to malfunction.

...

Jonas did not believe the day he was having. First his friend had been killed by a golden statue, which had spoken _and_ _then flown away_. Then he had observed the statues fighting each other, before leaving. Now Jonas was standing in the clearing, looking up at the half-exposed spacecraft jutting out of the mountain. Jonas stepped up to the hill, trying to get a better look.

The ship had been here a while he thought to himself. Sedimentary build up around the ship was a clear indicator, though he couldn't work out if the 15 degree down angle of the ship was a result of the crash - assuming it did crash - or being caught in an avalanche during it's stay on this planet.

He was about to take another step forward when he heard a noise to his left; a very close noise. Slowly he turned, not wishing to make any sudden movements.

The silver statue was three feet away, and had focused its upper protruding stalk right at him.

Jonas froze, not sure what to do. Soon, the silver statue turned and looked in another direction. Jonas slowly stepped away from the statue, and, making sure it wasn't going to suddenly lunge at him, ran behind some nearby boulders.

...

The Doctor watched Hiram and Pablito ascend up the steep hillside, and disappear to the relative safety of the next valley. He knew - providing they were not disturbed any further - that Hiram's desire to find the hut would eventually lead him to discovering the ancient city which would make him famous. It did however leave a dark page that the Doctor would have to rectify; Nathaniel and James weren't part of history, at least not with Hiram's destiny, and had to keep it that way.

James crouched down, signaling the others following that they should do the same. They slowly made their way to be beside James and looked down once again at the hill scarred by Dalek weapons fire.

Now the three gold Daleks and their apparently black leader were nowhere to be found, instead only a solitary silver Dalek remained.

"Another friend?" asked James.

"No…" began the Doctor, "this one's new. Probably came from the ship."

"Ship?" asked Nathaniel, and then his gaze followed the damaged tundra to the large metallic disc protruding from the side of the mountain. Memories of reading an H. G. Wells book years earlier came flooding back to him. "Doctor… are you saying these beings are from outer space?"

"Worse than that I'm afraid, they're from another time period. Not from 1911."

James and Nathaniel shared a look, disbelieving what they were hearing. "But if that's true Doctor, and you're so familiar with them, then…"

The Doctor just smiled at their comment, but didn't take his eyes off the Sentry Dalek. He noticed the Sentry was moving around in concentric circles; clearing having trouble with it's own mobility.

"Gentlemen, would I be right in assuming that Barnaby was a military man, and that satchel you're carrying might contain explosives of some sort?"

James gripped the strap of the bag as the Doctor spoke. "What of it?"

"I think it's time we did some mining of our own."

...

Dalek Sec surveyed his three associated as water from the stalactite dripped onto his dome. The low light of the cave was easily compensated for; the only thing Dalek Sec couldn't repair was his pride. He turned to face the darkness of the inner cave system.

The Sentry Dalek hadn't damaged any of them, yet it was protected by an extremely powerful force field. A thousand years of exposure to the Heart of Skaro must have lead the Sentry Dalek to obtaining some of it's powers.

"We must attempt another attack" offered Dalek Caan, after minutes of silence. Dalek Sec said nothing.

"The Sentry Dalek is damaged" said Dalek Thay, momentarily taking his eyestalk off the cave entrance. "It may not be able to function for much longer."

"We can not be certain of that" said Dalek Sec, turning back to his soldiers. "The Heart of Skaro sustains it, but also blinds it. It no longer distinguishes Dalek life from enemy life."

"I can help."

The four Daleks targeted the source of the voice, Dalek Thay suddenly frustrated he allowed someone to breach their perimeter.

Before them a scruffy human with a long black beard walked forwards with his arms above his head. "My name is Jonas" he said, "and I think I know a way to get you into the ship."

"Explain" demanded Dalek Sec, as the others surrounded the poor human.

"I watched you leave after the other one attacked you. I waited for a bit then approached your space ship. The silver statue came at me, but did nothing to harm me."

Dalek Sec considered what he had heard. Perhaps the Sentry Dalek was so damaged it considered Daleks the enemy and anyone else an ally. Even worse; it might think it was no longer a Dalek. That last thought filled Dalek Sec with disgust.

"You will get into the ship for us. We will show you how to deactivate the shield surrounding it."

Jonas nodded, his hands together in a prayer to his four captors. "Yes, I will help you."

"Success will be rewarded. Any disobedience will result in death."

Jonas smiled and continued to nod. The thought of being allowed into the ship by himself was reward enough. Once inside he was sure he would be able to find a way to destroy all five statues, and then he could claim the treasures of the only space ship on planet Earth for himself.

...

James poked his head out through the undergrowth, keeping his eyes trained on the space ship, which from his current position was by now at least 60 feet below him. He made sure his feet were firmly fixed before reaching for his next branch. Every now and then some dirt would come free and wall down the mountainside towards the ship, and each time he would freeze for a short period to make sure he wasn't challenged. From his vantage point he couldn't see the silver Dalek any longer, which was always a constant worry. Despite the Doctor saying the silver Dalek was damaged and it was unlikely it would be able to target him from his height above the valley floor, he was still mindful that these things could fly.

James allowed himself a quick glance in the direction he'd came to admire his handiwork. The daisy chain of cable he'd strung between each stick of dynamite was briefly visible against the grey rocks and thick trees. The Doctor wanted to bring the rest of the mountain down on top of the alien space ship, and the Dalek's own weapons fire had loosened the mountain enough to make it fairly unstable on it's own. Thanks to Barnaby's explosives, they would make sure the ship would stay buried for another thousand years.

Far below, Nathaniel was crouched in a thick bush, his rifle sticking out to cover the Doctor, who by now was slowly walking towards the space ship. Nathaniel wiped his brow; he thought the Doctor's plan was foolish to say the least. And yet now here he was, walking straight up to the silver statue.

"Greetings" said the Doctor, casually strolling up to the Sentry Dalek with his hands in his pockets. The Sentry Dalek slowly turned, observing the new intruder. The Doctor smiled at it. The Dalek did nothing.

The Doctor waved his right arm as if he was adjusting his sleeve. Nathaniel saw the signal and took his finger off the trigger, taking the Dalek's eyestalk out of his scope. The Doctor had somehow made contact. He slowly shifted his sight to the Doctor's head, just in case he was part of the Dalek's plan.

The Doctor walked up to the Dalek, seeing it's damage fully for the first time. Most of its solar panels were either bent out of alignment or simply missing. Its plunger arm had been sheared off. One of its dome lights was missing. The globes on the left side of its body were dented heavily inwards. Unfortunately, the Doctor noted, the gun stalk was still firmly attached.

"State your int-int-intentions" the Dalek stuttered. The Doctor eyed it up, and slowly pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He gently pointed it at the Dalek, who didn't seem to respond. After a few seconds the Doctor noted the readings from the screwdriver, and promptly raised his eyebrows.

"Oh that's right" he said, and calmly walked past the Sentry Dalek, and towards the open hatch. "I have such a terrible memory…"

Nathaniel watched with amazement as the Doctor approached the spaceship. The Dalek had done nothing to stop him, which meant…

He raised his rifle to target the Doctor's head once again. He would have a few seconds before the Doctor disappeared inside, which would be enough to take care of this alien collaborator. He was about to pull the trigger when he detected movement to his right. He took his eye off the scope to see, adjusting his view to see.

A few metres away, the black Dalek had returned.

He remembered what he was told; the uppermost stalk was the creature's eye, and a direct shot would blind it. He slowly spun his rifle to target the black Dalek. He was about to fire when he heard another noise to his left.

Turning, he saw one of the golden Daleks less than three metres from him. He tried to bring the rifle back to bear on the new target, but was dead before he had the chance to fire.

...

High above the valley, James was trying to plant the last of his sticks. The cables had been run, all he had to do was climb back across the cliff face and attach it to the plunger. He began his way back, checking each stick as he went. He was halfway across when he stopped. He had a funny sensation of being watched. He slowly turned himself round so he was looking out from the cliff.

Hovering in mid-air were two Daleks, who wasted no time in exterminating the poor soul.

...

Inside the spaceship, the Doctor made his way quickly to the control room. The place was a mess. The remains of three further Daleks were strewn across the deck. Most of the control systems were smashed, although the central systems and data core appeared to be intact. The Doctor moved quickly to the flight controls, and noted a green and very alien device protruding from the main console - alien even for a Dalek vessel. He started re-programming some of the systems when he heard a noise behind him.

"Please step away from the desk my good man" said a voice, and the Doctor turned, surprised to see a human with a long black beard standing in the door, holding a pistol.

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor, but the man simply ignored him, and moved to a wall console, eying up the fittings.

"This should fetch a decent price on the black market, what do you think?"

The Doctor stared at the man; incredulous at the notion some random human would have the gall to sell off pieces of a crashed Dalek spaceship - though he had encountered worse. The Doctor moved over the human, ignoring the weapon still trained on him.

"How did you get in here?"

"Same as you" said Jonas, rubbing his hand slowly on the polished metal. "Through the front door."

_The Sentry Dalek can't fire on humanoids_ thought the Doctor. _So it'll let anyone in that isn't a Dalek_.

"This is a highly advanced space vessel, far beyond the sciences of this world. You can't just start breaking bits off it."

"I don't have to" said Jonas. "The Daleks will do it for me."

"Do you even know what they are?"

"Yeah, they're just like me. And once I throw this switch, they'll reward me." Jonas smiled, and pressed his hand against a blue-ish coloured disc against a far wall. The Doctor didn't have time to protest; the sound of generators powering down could be heard coming from down the darkened corridors.

...

Outside the Sentry Dalek turned it's attention back towards the ship. Internal monitors detected a sudden failure in the shield generator surrounding it. Turning back, it observed the four enemy targets elevating towards him. Attempting to destroy the intruders, he fired wildly into the air, but missed completely. The four Daleks fired as they swooped into the hatch, blowing the Sentry Dalek to pieces.

Dalek Sec trundled down the corridor towards the control room as the other three split off to perform various duties and checks ready to get the saucer space worthy. Sec entered the control room to see the Doctor standing beside the Tardis near the far wall, all emotion drained from his face.

"How do you survive…" he asked. "How do you continue to live when all of my kind die?"

Dalek Sec ignored the question, instead focusing on the enemy time machine in the corner of the room. The Doctor noticed.

"Thought I'd send for her, just in case I needed it."

"Can we get down to business, please?"

Both the Dalek and the Time Lord turned to see Jonas, standing near the helm console, holding a Dalek gun stalk he'd salvaged from one of the dead Daleks on the deck of the control room.

"State your intentions" said Dalek Sec.

"I got you into the ship, as you asked. Now give me some of the riches aboard this ship as I ask." He leveled the Dalek weapon at Dalek Sec, who showed no sign of being concerned for his own safety. "Otherwise I start playing with this thing."

"I would run now, while you still can" said the Doctor, but Jonas didn't listen. He took a step towards Sec, who didn't move.

"Get out of that shell, and we'll talk."

Dalek Sec remained motionless for a while, then hidden servos whined as his casing split apart, revealing the gelatinous creature inside. The Doctor was surprised, and expected the black Dalek to merely vaporize the human on the spot.

Jonas was equally surprised when one of Sec's tentacles shot out and wrapped itself around his neck, slowly squeezing the life out of him. The Doctor could do nothing to help the poor man as Sec tightened his grip, collapsing Jonas' neck to the width of half an inch, and crushing the bones in his upper vertebrae. As the dead body fell to the floor, Sec's casing was already retracting around itself to protect the mutant inside.

The other three Daleks had by now joined Sec in the control room, who was advancing on the Doctor.

"The Heart of Skaro chamber is sealed. We can not enter."

"You will grant us access" yelled Sec, and targeted his weapon at the Doctor's chest.

"Flight systems coming online" said Dalek Jast, Sec turned back towards Jast, ignoring the Doctor, who slide his sonic screwdriver down out of it's hiding place up his sleeve.

"Set course for geostationary orbit above London, England. We will target the area with thermo nuclear devices."

"What? WHY?" demanded the Doctor, aware that Dalek Thay was now guarding him.

"Because you defend it."

Outside, the strata that held the ship in place for over a thousand years disintegrated as Dalek force fields powered up, and the ship quietly slipped out of it's rocky prison and into the sky.

"Vessel climbing. Position will be achieved in 25 rels" said Dalek Jast.

"Weaponry systems online" said Dalek Caan, "targeting London."

"Excuse me, may I ask a quick question?"

Dalek Sec ignored the Doctor, knowing how he always liked to interfere at crucial times.

Dalek Thay turned to the Doctor, which he felt was enough of an audience.

"Does anybody know what that green device is sitting on the main console?"

All Daleks turned to the main console. The green device was wired into the console, burying itself deep into the panels. Dalek Sec suddenly realized it was a component he wasn't aware of, and turned quickly back to the Doctor.

"Don't look at me, it was here when I walked in. One thing I will say though… it is a Time Lord device."

Dalek Caan now moved to scan it with his plunger arm. "The device is attached to the power core" he said.

"Didn't you stop and wonder why the Sentry Dalek didn't let you in? It had already been reprogrammed… by a Time Lord. That's why it let me through and tried to stop you."

"You will deactivate the device!" screamed Dalek Sec.

"Certainly" said the Doctor, and aimed his screwdriver at the device, but discretely put his hand on the Tardis door. "Oh, and one more thing; the Heart of Skaro isn't here – I destroyed it shortly before I caused this ship to crash a thousand years ago."

At the instant he activated the screwdriver, all the lights in the room went out. By the time emergency power had kicked in, the Doctor was gone, and the Tardis began to dematerialise.

Dalek Jast detected their altitude had started to drop, slowly but soon gravity would take control and their sub-orbital flight would come to a crashing end.

"Main power offline. Directional control is lost. We must abandon ship."

Dalek Thay, Jast and Caan blurred and vanished from the control room as panels began to shake apart. Dalek Sec looked around, then temporal shifted after his brethren.

The saucer hit the ocean at terminal velocity, tearing the ship in two and causing it to sink very rapidly. In the dark hours of early morning, no one was around to see the alien vessel sink below the waves, and begin it's two hour descent into the darkest part of the ocean, a place the humans referred to as Challenger Deep.

...

Hiram stood at the top of the hill, Pablito by his side. Before him lay the vast city he had been search for. Out of some of the ruins came a handful of people to greet them; Pablito explained that these were fellow Quechuas, who chose to live at this altitude. Hiram determined they were at least 2000 metres above sea level, likely even higher than that. All around the site the foliage had grown to eclipse the hidden wonder, but now it was known, and soon the rest of the world would know.

_Harry has a camera_ Hiram thought to himself, _we must go back and get Harry_.

As Pablito ran to speak to the locals Hiram continued to survey the area, and noticed a bizarre blue box sitting near one of the damaged buildings. Walking over, he was further surprised to see the Doctor emerge from it.

"Doctor, you're alive!" Hiram said, stepping up to the Doctor to shake his hand.

"Yes, don't worry about me, I always take care of myself."

"Those creatures-"

"Gone, they won't bother you again. You can relax now, and enjoy your discovery."

Hiram turned back to the city, still amazed by what he was seeing. "I have spent years believing this was here. Ever since Santiago in 1908 I knew, I knew there was something here- oh Doctor, the thought of having an unexplored Incan city fills me with joy".

"I'm sure it does. Right, best be off. Enjoy your exploring."

The Doctor started to turn back towards to the Tardis when Hiram stopped him. "Doctor, what's the rush? Why not join me?"

The Doctor smiled as he stepped into the Tardis, and turned back to give Hiram one final smile. "Nah, no point… I've been here before."

With that the door shut, and seconds later the Tardis slowly vanished from sight. Hiram turned around to see Pablito standing behind him, wondering where he'd got to. Hiram smiled and put his arm around Pablito, leading him back what looked like the main square of the city. "We have much work to do, my boy, much work indeed."

Hiram allowed himself the honour of staying in the ruins a few more hours, knowing in the coming days he would be swamped with paperwork over the find, getting his associate, Harry Foote, to join him and to bring his camera this time. He knew memories of this day would stay with him forever, but for much of the days' events, he would never mention them to another living soul, as long as he lived.

As he and Pablito began to descend back to their camp, he gave the city one last look, and observed the sun beginning to set slowly over Machu Picchu.


End file.
